Washington Post: Wallace & Trump

 You'll need a subscription to The Post to read the excellent article comparing former Governor George Wallace and Former president Donald Trump, but it includes this:

"(Matt) Holt (who witnessed Wallace being shot) takes a harsher view of the 45th president, who he says “took a bunch of uneducated people and played them.” Although he calls himself an independent, he says he has voted for Democratic presidential candidates since 1996.

 

But he still defends his support for Wallace, for the same reasons he formulated as a 14-year-old: He liked the rhetoric about standing up for the little guy and believed the Alabama governor’s claim that he wasn’t racist"

Summer Heat

 

      NERC, a regulating authority that oversees the health of the nation's electrical infrastructure, says in its 2022 Summer Reliability Assessment that extreme temperatures and ongoing drought could cause the power grid to buckle. High temperatures, the agency warns, will cause the demand for electricity to rise. Meanwhile, drought conditions will lower the amount of power available to meet that demand. (Source: CNN)

 

NERC says much of North America will have adequate resources and electricity on hand this summer, but several markets are at risk of energy emergencies.

The Upper Midwest and mid-South along the Mississippi River will experience the highest risk this summer, NERC warns, where the retirement of old power plants and increased demand are troublesome.

 

Fishing Wisdom - The Wonder Years

 

This scene from a recent "The Wonder Years" show reminded me of the few times I went fishing with my Dad...always at the seashore...and rarely with any actual fish caught. One exception is me with a tiny fish, probably at a summer camp, not with Dad.

 

 

Like Dean's father, I'm also not fond of fish as a meal. And not fond of fishing either. Note how far away I am holding that tiny fish. Yuck!

You can watch the revamped Wonder Years on ABC 32 in Montgomery tonight and other Wednesday nights at 7:30 Central.
 

Whitewashed History?

      Just as The Montgomery Zoo's posted history fails to mention they shut down the facility to avoid black residents using it, Oak Park's historic sign leaves out the actual reason for the Park's closing in 1959.

     Federal courts found the city's "recreational policies" to be unconstitutional? That's a rather kind description of what really happened, no?

     The Zoo was refusing to allow black residents in, and decided to close rather than open the doors to everyone.

 

 

 

 

Media: When is a "teen" a "man"?

 From an NPR story about the suspect in the Buffalo mass shooting.

"When news broke of the white supremacist 18-year-old suspect behind the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., Saturday in which 10 people died and three others were injured, certain news organizations and commentators have variously described the suspect as a man, as a teenager and as a child.

Critics are asking: If the suspect had been Black, would he have been described and treated similarly?"

HERE'S the NPR story.

George Wallace Shot, May 15 1972. Archive Film.

In Case You Missed It...

 On NPR's Radiolab program...Alabama's Helen Keller is "Exorcised"

"Fantasy writer Elsa Sjunneson has been haunted by Helen Keller for nearly her entire life. Like Helen, Elsa is Deafblind, and growing up she was constantly compared to her. But for a million different reasons she hated that, because she felt different from her in a million different ways. Then, a year ago, an online conspiracy theory claiming Helen was a fraud exploded on TikTok, and suddenly Elsa found herself drawing her sword and jumping to Helen’s defense, setting off a chain of events that would bring her closer to the disability icon than she ever dreamt. For over a year, Elsa, Lulu and the Radiolab team dug through primary sources, talked to experts, even visited Helen’s birthplace Ivy Green, and discovered the real story of Helen Keller is far more complicated, mysterious and confounding than the simple myth of a young Deafblind girl rescued by her teacher Annie Sullivan. It’s a story of ghosts, surprises, a few tears, a bit of romance, some hard conversations, and a possibly psychic dog."

Listen to the program HERE:

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/helen-keller-exorcism

 

A Statue of Helen Keller is going to be installed on the Alabama Capitol grounds soon. It will be designed to be touched and experienced by blind people.

Child Hepatitis Update

 Cases continue to spread globally...and there is a report that some of the original cases in Alabama ended with the death of five of  those children:

"Dr. Jay Butler, the deputy director for infectious diseases at the CDC, noted that 90 percent of these children were hospitalized dating back to October 2021, when nine such cases were identified in Alabama. He said 14 percent required an emergent liver transplant and five of the children tragically died."

Opinion: The Methodist Shakeup

Don't Say (or Pray) Gay

 

Wallace is shot---50th Anniversary

1972: Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot and left paralyzed by Arthur H. Bremer while campaigning in Laurel, Md., for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Wallace died in 1998; Bremer was released from prison in November 2007 after serving 35 years of a 53-year sentence for attempted murder.)

 

Photos: the clothing Wallace (and his wife) were wearing 50 years ago today when he was shot, and the wheelchair he spent the rest of his life using to get around. (The materials are preserved in the Alabama Department of Archives and History).

Wallace Shot on This date 50 Years Ago---in 1972

 

"Wallace was cut down about 4 p.m. while shaking hands with well-wishers on the parking lot of the shopping center. The governor, coatless under the afternoon sun, fell backwards on the pavement, red stains on his blue shirt. His wife, Cornelia, rushed to his side, crying and cradling his head in her hands. Her beige suit was smeared with his blood."

 

Wallace was in this wheelchair for the remainder of his life.

HERE is The Washington Post's coverage of the shooting.

 

 

Arthur Bremer was released from prison on November 9, 2007, at the age of 57, having served 35 years of his original sentence. His probation ends in 2025. 

 

Wallace's son, George Wallace Jr. has written a essay about today's anniversary. READ IT HERE at the Alabama News Network website.

Writing

 AL.COM: PLEASE write clearly!!!!

"A top donor to the University of Alabama who urged students to boycott the institution three years ago over his opposition against the state’s anti-abortion law has donated $200,000 to a political action committee supporting Katie Britt’s Senate campaign."

What????? Did he favor the law or oppose it?

My head hurts!

The full story is HERE.

U.S. Navy Alabama-Built Ships in trouble

"... the embattled littoral combat ships have faced perennial problems, including repeated breakdowns and questions about their limited armament."

'We can't use them'

"Rep. Adam Smith, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said, "We can't use them, number one because they're not ready to do anything. Number two, when they are, they still break down."

"They're incredibly expensive, and they don't have the capabilities that we expected. So regardless of how old they are, that's a lot of money to be spent to get pretty close to nothing," the Washington state Democrat continued."

(CNN Story) 

 

The U.S.S. Montgomery

 Earlier this year two commanders on the ship were relieved of duty  after a loss of confidence in them.

Two Alerts for Montgomery Residents Tomorrow!

 Alabama News Network reports:

Maxwell Air Force Base says it will be conducting an aerial demonstration with pyrotechnics Wednesday.

The exercise is scheduled to run from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Officials with Maxwell say those in the vicinity of the base may experience higher than normal noise levels during that time.

The event is closed to the public.

PLUS:

Elmore County EMA to Test Sirens Wednesday

Posted: May 10, 2022 2:17 PM CDT

by Alabama News Network Staff

If you are in Elmore County Wednesday and hear the tornado sirens, don’t be alarm.

The Elmore County Emergency Management Agency says it plans to test sirens throughout the morning Wednesday.

Elmore County EMA Director Keith Barnett said the All-Hazards Outdoor Warning Siren System will undergo some tests starting at 9:00 a.m. and should wrap up by noon.

The goal of the tests is to work out some bugs in the system.

Alabama Population Change 2020-2021: Better Than Mississippi, Worse Than Georgia & Tennessee

  

Full PEW report HERE.